Murder Famiglia
by runrabbitrun
Summary: Alternate ending for Abigail Hobbs, having Hannibal and Will as fugitives daddies in Florence.
1. Chapter 1

When Will Graham arrived at Dr. Lecter's house, he hadn't imagined that he would see Alana in the state she was in. There were so many questions. Who did it? What had happened? What was going on inside the house right that second? He called the paramedics and entered the mansion with his gun in his hands. He approached the kitchen – where he knew Jack was probably with Hannibal, since there wasn't anyone in the dining room.

Will saw blood on the ground and when he turned around, there she was. Abigail. Crying like a scared child. His eyes couldn't believe what he just saw. The person he loved – and mourned – so much. Jack was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Hannibal. He didn't know if he wanted to cry, or scream, or run and hug her so tight like he would never ever leave her again. But the danger was close and he could feel it in his bones. "Where is he?" he asked. She didn't say anything, and she didn't have to. He knew exactly where he was.

"You were supposed to leave", Will said, as if Hannibal had ruined all his plans. He didn't want him to be caught by the FBI, so those were his true intentions. And now the bastard was right there, and there was Abigail, and he didn't know why they had done this to him. They were supposed to be a family, that was what Hannibal had always remarked to him when they were discussing Abigail.

"We couldn't leave without you", Hannibal answered. Will noticed he was taking something out of his pocket. It was a shiny linoleum knife, gripped in his hand, moving closer to Will, as Hannibal placed the other hand on Will's face.

"Hannibal!" Will wailed and hugged the other tightly. He had tears in his eyes and they were ready to fall. "I was afraid you were dead!"

Hannibal stood there, knife in hand, perplexed at the sudden movement. He was so ready to go on with his plan, but that was unexpected. He slowly hugged him back, smelling that cologne that he hated so much, focusing instead on the great smell that Will's hair always had. He loved to smell him when they were close, and now he felt as close as he ever had been.

"I accept your offer. I want us to go… together. The three of us."

With that Will came closer and sealed his lips with Hannibal's, putting his hands on his high cheekbones. Hannibal was still speechless when he let the knife fall onto the floor, and he was actually glad to be in that moment because words were nothing compared to finally having Will touching him like that. He put his hands on his waist and pulled him closer, kissing him back.

"Hm, Hanni- I mean… Dad, don't you think we should leave before the police get here?"

Hannibal smirked into the kiss and Will laughed a bit, neither of them letting the other go. Eyes gazing into the other's.

"In a minute, dear. Daddy has waited a long time for this."

Abigail went into the living room and put her backpack on her shoulders, and then opened the main door to watch the scene outside. She started to cry once again, but when she slowly came closer and noticed Alana was still alive. The police weren't there yet and when she looked back she saw Hannibal and Will – her beloved parents, now together – leaving the house. Hannibal was putting his coat on, and then the three left Alana and Jack for the police to rescue them.

Hannibal wanted to show Florence to Will. It was there where he had become a man and it seemed like the perfect place to be with both Will and Abigail. A good place to start over. They headed to the airport and boarded a non-stop flight to Rome. Abigail had stopped crying at some point and now was fast asleep with her head leaning on the window of the plane. Will and Hannibal rested their heads against their chairs and just stared at each other for hours, holding hands, until they fell asleep. From Rome, they took a train to Florence. On the train they had this chemistry going on between them like they had never felt before. They felt free from all of the stress that had taken over their lives for the last two years, especially Abigail and Will.

Hannibal spoke about the places he wanted to show them, and how much they would love it. Abigail was interested in the Italian ice cream, and Will in the pastries, but Hannibal made sure they didn't forget how carnivorous the Italians also were. When they arrived in the city, Hannibal called a cab to take them to the Hotel Relais Cavalcanti, a luxurious place for family vacations, as he put in a good word for them.

After they checked-in they entered a suite with two rooms and a big living room with a fancy kitchen. Will went to open the curtains and take a look through the large window while Abigail left her backpack on the sofa and joined Will. Hannibal went to the kitchen and opened a bottle of wine. He filled three glasses and joined them close to the window.

The night was splendid. The stars weren't obfuscated by the light of the city night and the moon was brighter than a precious stone. He handed them the glasses.

"To our new beginning together", Hannibal lifted his glass and Will and Abigail toasted with him.

"As a family", Abigail smiled before shyly sipping at her drink.

"One happy family", Will added.

Abigail was in the middle of her fathers; Hannibal with his hand around her waist and Will with his hand on her shoulder. They drank quietly, admiring the sky.

They drank almost the whole bottle while chatting and sharing a few laughs. Abigail was restrained from drinking too much after a while, so she kissed them goodnight and left them to be alone. They didn't stay up for too long because they wanted to rest and enjoy the next day in town, so they walked to their room and prepared for bed. It was the first night that they shared a bed together, but after all that wine all they wanted to do was sleep. They cuddled next to each other, arms around one another and, like that, they fell asleep.

Hannibal was the first to wake up in the morning. He looked at Will's back turned toward him, still sleeping in the same bed, and got up to prepare them some breakfast with the items that the kitchen contained for the guests. He was glad it was a morning with clean and bright weather. Perfect for tourism. While he was finishing up, Abigail entered the room and said good morning. Hannibal greated her and served some still-hot food.

"Will's still sleeping?" she asked, biting into her sandwich.

"Yes, we should wake him up soon or we're going to miss the day"

Abigail was a bit quiet that morning. She was the kind of girl who could absorb drastic events and still keep her head together. She knew about her new fathers, but their new explict relationship was a little new to her. She couldn't have felt happier for them though. She had a family again, and she loved the two who had decided to take care of her like a real daughter together. So their being together made total sense to her. Abigail wanted to talk about it, but she guessed it wasn't the time because everything was happening so fast that they might not even know what was happening between them at all. Which made her think about other matters.

"What if… What if they appear here and catch us?", she suddenly asked, still camly eating and speaking in a casual voice.

"We'll take care of everything this week; no one will find us here". Hannibal looked at her with reassuring eyes.

Will appeared in the kitchen with his messy hair and rubbed his eyes, dressed in his usual pajamas – shorty-shorts and a t-shirt.

"Morning", he said with a sleepy voice, "I smell eggs and sausage."

Hannibal stood up and took his plate from the counter and served him close to where he and Abigail were sitting.

"You smelled correcty. So, for today, I was planning for us to pass by Ponte Vecchio, which crosses the river Arno, and visit Il Galeria Degli Uffizi. At night we can rent a car and have dinner at the Osteria Vini e Vecchi Sapori, in Firenze."

Abigail smiled wide and nodded, making Will smile too.

"It seems like you planned it all very well," Will spoke.

"I planned simply the best for us, Will."

They left the kitchen after finishing their breakfast and changed to leave the hotel with the few clothes they had carried with them before travelling to Italy. They took the subway to get closer to the Ponte Vecchio, a medieval bridge, and the only one left intact, preserved by the orders of Hitler himself. They walked through it slowly, observing the town and the other tourists and Italian citizens that passed by them. The whole town had this magical feel in the air, like they were in a movie.

Abigail walked close to Will, who had his hand tangled with Hannibal's, the whole way. When they finally reached Il Galeria Degli Uffizi, Hannibal basically turned out to be their guide. The amount of precious art in the gallery was astounding. Il Battesimo di Cristo and L'Adorazione dei Magi by Leonardo da Vinci, Madonna di Ognissanti by Giotto, more from Sanzio, Tiziano, Durer, Botticelly and, of course, Tondo Doni by Michelangelo.

Abigail was taking as many pictures as she could and trying to read the descriptions of the art, standing in front of them. Other curious tourists were passing by, all kinds of languages being able to be heard. Hannibal talked about the paintings to Will as they touched each other without even noticing anymore.

"You were right," Will spoke, without looking at Hannibal, who turned his head to observe him. "We should have come here sooner." He turned his head to face Hannibal and smiled kindly, locking eyes with the other.

"What matters now, Will, is that we are all together, like we should have been since the beginning of… all of this. I won't let anything happen to this. No matter what it costs." He came a little closer and whispered close to Will's lips, "No matter who I'd have to kill."

Will blinked but didn't say a word. He looked down at Hannibal's lips and closed his eyes as he leaned closer and pressed his lips to his. It lasted just a little while before he broke it and moved just a little farther from Hannibal's face.

"Anything it takes," were his last words before Abigail appeared behind them.

"There's a lady taking pictures of the paintings using another picture of a dog to match the background of the real picture." She giggled a bit, shyly pointing at the woman.

"Abigail, it's not polite to point." Will stated with a little smile on his face, as he observed the woman and wondered what was going on there.

"It's completely normal for tourists to take unusual pictures."

"Which reminds me that we didn't take any." Abigail arched her eyebrows and shook the camera in her hand.

"I don't know… I don't really fancy taking pictures, Abigail..." Will started.

"Oh, come on! Only one! I promise."

"She's right, Will. We need a family picture." Hannibal added.

Will stared at him for a moment. The word "family" had been used with frequency for the last two days, but in no way did he think it sounded like a bad idea. It just sounded right – that was the truth.

He sighed, took off his glasses, and rubbed his eyes.

"Fine. Only one."

Abigail smiled and got closer to them, settling herself in the middle. They all kinda smiled in their own creepy way. Murder family. One happy family. Of course they were only joking, but it turned out to be a pretty good picture of them.

When sunset was almost starting they left the gallery and headed to Firenze by car. Hannibal was driving, and since he was the driver he was the one to choose the music, which turned out to be Bach, Goldberg variations (Aria). It was a calm, silent little trip. Abigail, sitting in the middle back seat, couldn't take off her smile.

She loved her new family and felt so at peace with them. The worst was over and now they could love each other as if they were blood-related. Will was so caring, so gentle and understanding with her. The one who had taken away a father but given her another one. And Hannibal, who took care of her like a real father should. She couldn't have asked for better ones. Both of them were now her new fathers and this, for her, felt like heaven.

When they arrived at the elegant restaurant, Hannibal parked and they left the car. They ordered a reserved table for three and a wine while they chose their dishes. They ordered Bruschetta for antipasto and Cacciatore as the main dish. It was a pleasant dinner, and during it they started to plan where they were going to live.

"Should we get an appartment or a house?" Abigail asked, bitting into some Bruschetta.

"Definitely a house," Will spoke and the other two both looked at him, waiting for him to finish what he started. He shrugged, eating as well. "We need space for the dogs."

"You'll fill our house with stray dogs, will you?" Hannibal asked, with thin lips.

"Yep. I can't wait to meet some Italian dogs." He joked, as the main dish arrived.

They enjoyed the meal in silence for a while until Hannibal spoke casually – and quietly – to

them.

"This dish refers to a meal prepared "hunter-style"," he gave a pause before contining, "with onions, herbs, usually tomatoes, often bell pepers and, sometimes," he raised his wine in one hand, "sometimes wine."

"Hunter-style?" Abigail asked in the same casual tone.

"Cacciatore means "hunter" in Italian. In cuisine, allan cacciatora refers to a meal prepared hunter-style. The meat is rabbit or, coniglio alla cacciatora. In other words, rabbit-hunter." He smiled at her and winked, before putting the fork between his lips.

Will looked at Abigail and felt what she was thinking. She was thinking about Hannibal's eating habits. When would it start? Who was going to be the first victim? Was she was going to help catch victims for her dad again?

He had already made up his mind, though. He wasn't going to turn his back on his feelings towards Hannibal, and he had forgiven him, and he accepted him for who he was. He had to kill for a living. Just like people did with animals; he did it with people. No big difference if you thought about it. It was murder just the same. At least he wasn't killing just for sport; he was eating them.

The way back seemed longer since they were so tired after the long day and all that food. Hannibal noticed through the rear-view mirror Abigail going through her phone while using headphones. He cleared his throat and spoke quietly into the air of the car, a cold temperature, thanks to the air conditioner.

"I think Abigail is truly happy."

"Isn't she?" Will looked back to watch the girl looking through the window, looking back at Hannibal right after. "I think we're doing well for her."

"What Abigail needs is a clan, a househood," he turned his eyes to Will, "True parents."

"Which we are," Will also seemed truly happy. He rested his hand on Hannibal's thigh and sighed, "There's something between us, anyway..." Will diverted his eyes to the road by his side.

Hannibal took Will's hand and kissed the top of it, holding their hands on his thigh again. "Yes. There's a lot to talk about, Will, and I think we should do it soon. Just you and I," he looked at Will again and held his hand tighter. Will nodded and quickly kissed him on the lips.

With that movement Abigail turned her head to them and blushed a little. She couldn't help but smile, though. They were happy, she was happy. She was dead and they were missing, but not in Florence. In Florence they would make a new life together and everything was going to be fine.

When they arrived at the hotel again it was already three in the morning. Abigail changed into her pajamas and turned the TV in the living room on. She wasn't tired but Hannibal told her not to stay up for too long, and he and Will went to bed as soon as they took individual showers. When Hannibal was back, Will was sitting on the bed with his usual sleeping clothes and glasses on, reading a book.

"How did you enjoy the day, Will?"

He closed the book, carefully putting one finger where he had stopped so he wouldn't miss the right page, and looked up to Hannibal with a smile. "Delightful. Refreshing… Romantic."

Hannibal smirked and joined him in bed, sitting next to him, the only lights coming from both lampshades on the bedside tables.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it so. It was lovely for me, too. But there's still so much else to be done. We need to change our names, passports, social security cards… It would be easier if you and Abigail obtained European citizenships to keep a low profile. We check out tomorrow under my fake name and leave for our other hotel. We can spend the day dealing with that, and at night we can rest in the other hotel, and on the third day we can already start looking for our house."

"You did think it over." Will put the book on the bedside table and lay on the bed, turning to Hannibal. "I suppose you already have contacts to do all the work."

"Of course." Hannibal also lay on the bed, facing Will.

They spent some time only looking at each other. They moved a little closer just to slightly touch each other on the arm and hair.

"Abigail should go to college soon, too." Will suddenly spoke.

"She'll need Italian classes immediately to do so."

"We can keep our jobs under fake names?" Will asked.

"Yes, don't worry about any of that, Will. There are profilers in Florence."

Will sighed.

This life of crime was… different from this other angle. More alluring. Thrilling. This was where he truly belonged. It was Hannibal who had made him see it. Finally see it. Just like Jacob Hobbs had whispered to him before dying by his own bloody hands. Hannibal hugged him and Will settled himself in his arms, closing his eyes.

It was like he didn't trust himself with Hannibal. The feeling was amusing and he loved it in every sense. He hugged him closer by the neck and hid his face in Hannibal's neck. Hannibal also closed his eyes and hugged him tighter, running his fingers across his back, tenderly. The Ripper moved his head down so he could find Will's lips, kissing him softly.

Will's arms wrapped around Hannibal's neck tightly and he pressed his lips more passionately against his. They moved their lips and were touching each other above their clothes. Backs, arms, chests, cheeks, necks. But the skimming fingers were slow. Delicate. Sweet.

Will broke the kiss, slowly, and turned to turn the light of his lampshade off. Hannibal did the same and lay in the same way again. Will grabbed Hannibal's hand and turned back to him, making Hannibal turn into the big spoon. He leaned completely against him and Hannibal rested his cheek on Will's hair.

The next morning, when the three of them were at the table having breakfast, they revised the day's schedule. Hannibal would take care of all of the paperwork as Will and Abigail would look for a tutor to teach them the language of the country, since that was where they had decided to live – at least for now. It was especially important for Abigail, who was told in the morning about their plan of her joining an university.

Hannibal dropped them at the next hotel on their list – staying at the same hotel while there were people searching for you wasn't wise in any way – and went to deal with their affairs. Not only with the illegal paperwork, but also with his own business. He was hungry for a particular taste that had been denied from him for the last several days.

His first thought was if he shouldn't wait until they had their own home and could prepare the carcass with all the proper equipment; but, with the right plan and some useful tools, it wasn't impossible to be done. He needed to find a perfect victim. Preferably a young girl with a natural body and a nice shape to be prepared.

He thought about it all day as he arranged everything the three of them needed to start a new life in Italy. It was getting late, but at night it was easier to catch people. He chose a young girl walking alone in the streets, probably going back home from college, since that was a students' yard. He parked the car and held a small bottle of trichloromethane - a colorless liquid with a spicy sweet, ether smell, that is very volatile and very soluble in water - a powerful anesthetic, and toxic if too much is inhaled.

He followed her to a dark alley and, quick as a cheetah, put the wet tissue over her nose and silenced her with his other hand. He dropped her in the alley and killed her with a hammer to the skull. He went back to his car to take out some utensils and went back to the alley. Using the proper and usual transparent clothes and a flashlight, he started to do his work. Most of the work was easy to do with a few simple tools: sharp, clean, short and long bladed knives, a cleaver or hatchet, and a hacksaw.

He harvested the organs and took the legs with him. The skinning part he would do at the hotel. The cooking should be easy, he had already gone shopping for groceries. He did his work as quickly as he could and left the place in about twenty-five minutes. He packed everything up so he would pass unsuspicious in the hall of the hotel and went upstairs by the elevator.

When he opened the door, Will and Abigail were laughing about something and turned their heads to greet Hannibal, who smiled at them and walked over to leave all the night's work on the counter; leaving ca tomato sauces, beer, lemon juice, worcestershire sauce, vinegar, jalepeno peppers, minced red pepper, paprika and several other ingredients. Also, the human parts.

"We found a professor to teach us," Abigail informed him enthusiastically.

"We had a good time trying to communicate with several agencies," Will added.

"What's gonna be for dinner, Dad?" Abigail asked.

"Good. Tonight we'll be having Bloody Leroy Mix."

Hannibal immediately started to prepare the meal. He stored all of the items that needed to be refrigerated inside of the fridge and began with one leg. He saved the other in the freezer after chopping it to little pieces. He skinned the carcass with a slim, sharpened long knife while some other ingredients started to boil. He occasionally looked at the living room to watch Will and Abigail entertaining themselves with a movie on the television. He was so concentrated he didn't notice when Will approached him from behind and slowly put his arms around his waist, resting his chin on Hannibal's shoulder.

"Do you need any help?"

"I'll just put this in the oven after I season it," Hannibal turned his head to look at Will, "but thank you."

"You're welcome," he whispered before kissing him on the lips and slowly moving away to the fridge, taking out a bottle of wine. "Tomorrow we should start visiting some houses to pick one as soon as possible. Settle in. Do all the moving. Buy all the furnitude." Will sighed with a half full glass in hand, serving Hannibal another one and leaving it close to where he was seasoning the meat.

"It will surely be troublesome but we can make it fun. It's not easy to start over, but don't worry, Will. We'll be completely settled in in a few weeks." He looked up at Will, reassuring.

Will smirked and looked at Abigail on the sofa.

"Abigail suggested that we should take a night off while she explores the nightlife of Florence."

Hannibal looked at her too, then to Will, then to the meat in front of him, not stopping what he was doing. "It could be dangerous. She doesn't know the city, it will be dark..."

"She's nineteen, I'm sure she won't get into any trouble. She could take our car so she won't be walking alone in the middle of the night, and meet the young folks of the city. She needs to make some friends, after all."

Hannibal sighed. Of course he wanted a night out with Will. There was so much to talk about and they hadn't had much time alone since probably their last session in Hannibal's old office. Not to mention the last several nights when they cuddled before sleeping. But he was worried about his daughter, he still saw her as a child. His child. No, his and Will's child.

Will was probably right, though. She needed to interact with other people aside from them and make friends just like any other teenager. There was nothing better than trying to do that by getting to know the new town at night. He was considering it.

"Alright. Tomorrow, after we look through a few houses."

When Hannibal was through, several minutes later, he walked into the living room and sat beside Abigail, who was sitting in the middle of their three-seat sofa. Hannibal put his arm around the couch and Will did the same, both of them tangling their fingers together, simply watching the movie while the food was being cooked.

Abigail cuddled close to Will and was almost drifting off to sleep when the beep from the oven was heard in the kitchen. Hannibal hurried to prepare everything and Abigail and Will went to the counter to help him set the table. Of course the food was delicious and they all enjoyed it, thank you very much. It wasn't like they hadn't tasted something like it before. For Abigail and Will it was just a matter of time before they got used to the idea of eating this kind of meat on a regular basis. They were aware of what they were eating, at last.

They left the empty plates and other things in the sink and went to get ready for bed. There was another big day ahead. The three of them were excited about many things. They shared the same anticipation about finding a nice place to live and, Abigail in particular, for seeing the town at night. Will was anxious about the dinner with Hannibal. It would technically be their first official date.

To Hannibal it was more thrilling because he had this big idea for something to take place during dinner, and now that idea wouldn't leave his head for the rest of the night. He hoped he would have the time tomorrow to arrange everything for the night with Will. Either way, he would find a way to do it. They showered and said goodnight to each other, each one leaving to their respective rooms.

In the morning, the first thing Will noticed when he woke up was the light rain falling from the sky. It was a chilly day, but lovely anyway. Abigail was already in the kitchen drinking some orange juice and he greeted her with a kiss in her hair.

"Excited about the new house?" he asked, serving himself some of the juice as well.

"I was worried about the rain, I hope it won't make things difficult to look for one."

"We've found four different available houses that match our discussed profile. We'll visit two in the morning and two in the afternoon. Let's hope the weather doesn't get too moody."

Hannibal appeared in the kitchen and said good morning to them, kissing both of them, Abigail on the forehead and Will on the lips. He prepared something quick for breakfast and soon they left the hotel one more time, with all of their things packed either in their hands or on their backs.

They spent the whole day visiting and looking through houses in great spots in the city, nearby restaurants and theaters. Hannibal wanted them to have the best he could offer so he was the most picky about the houses they went to. The rain had stopped at some point and the weather was typically cold, making them walk closer to each other.

When they were done with all four of the houses they rented another suite in another hotel and sat there for a while, discussing the houses they had visited that day. Abigail was excited about a house where her room could be in the attic, and that had a great view of the city. Will was interested in the house with a view of a lake, so he could teach Abigail to fish. Hannibal was caught between the two houses, but sided with Will due to that house being the more fancy one, and Abigail could have a real room and not just some teen foolish desire to live in an attic.

In the end she agreed with them and decided it was, in fact, a great idea to live closer to the woods and a lake than so close to the city. They needed to keep their privacy. With that being decided, they made up their minds about the big house by the lake. There was plenty of space for Will's stray dogs, and the living room was very cozy with a luxurious fireplace where they could spend time together. It was a secluded place, but not in the middle of nowhere. Hannibal made the purchase by phone and in the next day they would receive the keys to their new home.

Hannibal went out for a couple of hours – suspiciously taking longer than he said he was going to – so he could return the keys to the other houses. When he arrived back at the hotel it was almost dark outside. For now, they could just breathe. Abigail went to get ready for her night out while Will and Hannibal waited a bit longer since their reservation wasn't until nine. Will cuddled close to Hannibal as they watched the TV in the living room and Hannibal hugged Will with one of his arms around him.

When Abigail was ready to leave, all dressed up in an elegant dress, boots, scarf and coat, she walked into the living room to get the keys from her parents.

"Are you carrying all of your new documents?" Will asked, turning his head to her, and she nodded.

"Don't accept drinks of any kind from strangers," Hannibal handed her the keys, looking at her seriously.

"And don't come back too late, we'll be waiting for you to get back." Will added.

"I'll just go out, find a nice pub and have a little fun. I'll be back soon. There's no need to worry," She accepted the keys and put them in her purse.

"Call us if anything happens and keep your phone turned on." Will told her.

"Seriously, Abigail. If either of our names appears on the screen, you answer the call."

"Fine," she rolled her eyes, "can I go now?"

"Have fun, dear." Hannibal kissed her on the cheek.

"You two have fun, too," she waved goodbye with a tender smile on her face, almost giggling about her dads having a night on their own, and left the hotel apartment.

When she left they moved to get dressed for their gaudy dinner. They put on their best suits and didn't take too long to get ready. Hannibal was finishing his hair in the bathroom while Will sipped a glass of wine in the kitchen. When the older appeared Will's pupils dilated at the elegance displayed in front of him. He licked his lips - from the wine, of course.

"You look very handsome tonight," he couldn't help but say.

Hannibal approached him and put his hands around Will's waist.

"Thank you. You look handsome every time I put my eyes on you, but I believe there's no need to say that. I know you know."

Will kissed him briefly but lovingly and put his hands on his chest, tapping two times lightly with his hands, and smiled.

"We should go. I already called the cab."

Il Latini was one of the most expensive and traditional restaurants in Florence. It was classy and perfect for a romantic date. It had several pictures on the walls, all with golden frames;the ceiling was high and white; the chairs and tables were made of very dark wood. They sat close to a window with a view of the streets. There were candles and bread on the table.

After a few minutes discussing the menu, they made their whole order and waited for the wine to come first. The ambience was superb, the conversations around them weren't too loud, and the music was congenial. The wine arrived and, after the waiter left, Hannibal made a toast for their new life as a couple. Will licked his lips and clanked the crystal on Hannibal's.

There was no lie. They were a couple now - maybe they had always been - but now was different. There were aware and understanding of those feelings that had made them be where they were tonight. Those thoughts, though, thought Will, weren't very clear. They had never spoken about it properly. Wasn't it the time already?

"Will, I think we should discuss something tonight," Hannibal started, casually.

"Yes, dear?" Will asked, feeling that something huge was coming. He couldn't help his anxiety when people talked to him like that, but he tried to keep his cool.

Hannibal took a while to talk, swirling, smelling and drinking in this particular order before saying something else. This time he looked right at Will's blue eyes.

"You make me curious, Will. I wish I could read your mind, but I can't. All I could do is speak for myself," he continued. Will sipped his wine without moving his eyes off of Hannibal's maroon ones. "I love you, Will. It's been a long time and I think it took you too long to realize it. Maybe you always knew but didn't want to believe. In either way, you do know now."

Will licked his lips and looked away for an instant before looking back at him, while moving closer to the table between them, so he could speak more clearly and just for Hannibal. Will didn't know what to say in that moment so he crossed his own hands and looked down.

"I love you, too," he whispered to the table. His fingers looked for Hannibal's and he touched his skin lightly, trying to look up at him. "And I think I've never been happier in my life," he finally lifted his head and looked back at Hannibal. The other had shining eyes and a small smile on his face. He took Will's hand in his and caressed the top of it.

"Now that we have started a family and, seeing how serious we both are towards the entire situation, I thought we could… Well, officialize our status."

Will's heart skipped a beat; it was quick, but enough to startle him.

"What do you mean?" he asked, carefully.

In that moment their dish arrived at the table and they were interrupted. Hannibal made a pause on the subject to wait for the waiters to leave and started to eat. It was Will's turn to be curious and he couldn't stop thinking about that answer.

"Hannibal?" he asked.

"What I mean, Will, is..." he stopped eating and drank from his glass before continuing, "I want us to be an item."

"Like… dating?" Will was trying to act cool and enjoy the meal, but it seemed quite impossible to relax. He didn't know why he felt like that - if it was too much because it was with Hannibal, after all, or due to any other reason.

"No. Not dating…"

"What, then?"

Hannibal grabbed his napkin and cleaned his lips before reaching for the crystal and drinking a little. He stared intensely at Will and held his hand again, taking a box from his internal suit pocket. He left the black box in front of Will and opened it. Will arched his eyebrows when he saw the shining engagement ring reflecting the candlelight.

"I think this has been going on forever and I want you to understand my true intentions," he made a pause, watching Will take the ring out of the box and observe it closely. "I want to marry you, Will Graham."

Will didn't reply for a while, just looked at the ring in his hands. He was trying to understand his own emotions now. It was clear that he loved Hannibal, that he was in love, that this new life seemed to be appealing to him.

"Wow, a marriage. I… never thought you would take this so seriously."

"I am, and I do. It's just for you, Will. All for you."

Will looked up at him seriously. He licked his lips and smiled, putting the ring on his left hand. He raised the crystal.

"To our wedding, then."

Hannibal smiled too and made a toast, clanking the glasses.

"Will, I know this might seem abrupt but it's what I've wanted for so long. I'm also glad for Abigail having parents with a stable relationship."

Will nodded, going back to eating. That night he was drinking a little more heavily than usual; Hannibal obviously noticed that the other man was quite nervous, but didn't say a thing and let Will relax in his own way.

"It was not abrupt, it was… unexpected. I thought it would take longer than that, but I'm glad. What I see is that we're going in the right direction. All three of us," Will winked at Hannibal, finishing what he was eating. "This is exactly what I want."

They finished dinner and left the restaurant, deciding to go by feel back to the hotel. Will had one arm crossed around Hannibal's arm and walked really close because of the harsh wind. They were happy together and chatted about the wedding as if it were a joke. Neither of them had really realized how serious it all was.

The apartment was filled with darkness. No sign of Abigail, but Will still went to check as soon as he left his coat close to the door.

"She isn't here," Will came back from the corridor.

They didn't bother turning the lights on, going directly to the bedroom instead, Hannibal with cellphone in hand, dialing Abigail. Will opened the closet while Hannibal spoke to Abigail, who was apparently coming home in an hour. He undid the buttons on the long sleeves and unbuttoned his shirt and took it off, followed by his shoes.

Hannibal left the phone on the bedside table and walked slowly over behind Will. He put his arms around his waist and rested his chin on his shoulder. He didn't say anything, he just wanted to get close in this cold night. He wanted intimacy, it was true; it turned out that things were going just fine the way they were.

"I couldn't be happier that you said yes," he whispered, moving his head to drop kisses on Will's shoulder. "For a moment I thought you would say no."

"In no given moment did I think about saying no. I just didn't know how to say yes," he turned around to face Hannibal, who was still completely dressed up. Will checked him out for the last time that night while he was still in that suit and looked down to unbutton Hannibal's suit buttons, removing the coat and leaving it inside the closet behind him.

"I'm the best of me when I'm with you. The same way you are the true you when you are with me," Hannibal placed one hand on Will's hair and moved his head closer, "Maybe we do deserve each other." He pressed his lips to Will's, who kissed him back. He started to unbutton the buttons of Hannibal's vest, slowly, not even sensually. He wasn't sure why he was doing it anyway, he just wanted to get ready for bed, he thought.

That was something that crossed his mind – and he bet Hannibal's too – sometimes. The intimacy slowly growing between them, and when they actually, well, performed the whole act. He started to think about it as he undid Hannibal's tie, as the kiss turned needier. He removed the vest and the tie, trying to leave them inside the closet, but he didn't even notice when they fell on the floor. Hannibal stepped out of his shoes while Will started to remove his long-sleeved shirt.

He wondered how badly Hannibal wanted that from him, and if they should wait because everything was fine the way it was and Will was enjoying the sort of relationship he was having with Hannibal. Now that he could call it that, at least. They were engaged, which meant they could slowly grow their intimacy together. Like now - it didn't felt like a sensual moment, but it was one of the most sensual moments for each of them. The feeling and the chemistry were intense, making them intoxicated by each other. Maybe they could go a little further that night. To celebrate.

Will moved his kisses to Hannibal's neck, using his tongue to help. He kissed the back of his ear, licked the middle of his neck and bit closer to his shoulder. All while finishing unbuttoning Hannibal's shirt. He took it off, Hannibal helping him with that gesture. He had his hands on Will's hips, his head leaning on Will's as the other kissed his skin in that lovely way. Will's lips moved back to Hannibal's when he started to undo Hannibal's belt and trousers; he considered it to be an invitation for him to do the same.

They let the pieces of clothing fall to the floor as the kiss had heightened and turned intense. They stood out of the discarded clothes and walked slowly and blindly to the bed. They lay on the bed with only their boxers briefs on, never breaking the kiss. Will settled them under the covers, noticing how aroused they were by the size of the briefs, Hannibal easily winning the competition.

"As much as I wanted do it with you tonight, we don't have any… supplies," Will suddenly spoke, breaking the kiss and catching some air.

Hannibal sighed and caressed Will's hair, catching some air as well while looking deeply into his eyes.

"Me too. We'll have plenty of time," he kissed Will's nose and laid his head back on the pillow. His thumb moved to touch Will's bottom lip. He played his thumb there for a while before Will decided to lick the tip of it, kissing it smoothly, "There is something I'd like to try, though."

"Okay." Will whispered, unsure. Hannibal moved on the bed, making Will lie on his back as he leaned against him, almost on top of him. He caressed Will's cheek and kissed his lips, moving his mouth to bite on his ear and whispered:

"I want you to lie down and enjoy it."

Hannibal kissed his lips goodbye for now and moved to kiss his clavicle. His hand slid across Will's torso, caressing his soft skin. He worshipped his body with sweet kisses mixed with hungrier ones, leaving some marks behind. When he was on his hip bone, deliberately kissing his stomach, he slowly moved the briefs down, moving to take them off completely and throwing them on the floor next to the bed. He sighed at the view, Will blushing and exposed to thin air, naked and half-hard.

Will put one arm above his head, trying to get comfortable, but he felt so exposed he couldn't calm down as much as he wished to. He wanted Hannibal to come back and kiss him, so he pulled him closer and kissed him deeply on the mouth. The other kissed him just the same but only for a few minutes; he was starting to salivate for Will's skin.

He moved down again, kissing Will all the way, and stopped on his inner thighs. He grabbed them with nails and all and started to kiss the skin. He wanted to leave a mark on that spot, making Will whine a little when Hannibal used his teeth to leave a purple mark on his left inner thigh. His maroon eyes looked up to meet Will's blue ones before taking him in his hand, starting to pump him slowly.

Hannibal moved his lips closer and licked the head with passion. Will echoed the action with a small sound, but a satisfying one. He closed his eyes and rested his hand on his abdomen; his other hand still rested above his head, on the pillow.

The doctor's administrations were precise, as if he knew exactly what to do. Like he'd been practicing a lot. He still wanted to know all of Will's sweet spots and how to pleasure him in the proper way; individually and exclusively to him. He pressed his lips tight around him, used his tongue with dexterity and let the right rhythm flow.

Will was making sporadic pleasurable sounds and his hand had moved from his stomach to Hannibal's hair, encouraging him to go faster. If this wasn't the most intimate encounter with Hannibal in his life he didn't know what was. Not speaking about the act itself, but the feeling all around the room and themselves was too heavy. A wonderful, heavy vibration between them, like he had never felt before.

It felt different from the other times Will had been receiving head. Maybe because it was happening with his fiance, something he had never had. Hannibal was his most valuable relationship, and now they were going to be much more. Maybe it was because he loved him more than anyone else he ever had in his life. All he could do right now, though, was make sounds as Hannibal went faster and more vigorously on him.

He noticed, when he opened his eyes, that Hannibal had started to touch himself in synchronicity with the movements of his head. He looked curiously at his member and licked his lips, letting out a moan. He closed his eyes again and concentrated on the rough movement of Hannibal's lips. He thrusted up and climaxed inside his mouth. Hannibal didn't spit it out; on the contrary, he tasted it all and licked his own lips, not leaving any drop behind.

He continued to touch himself, kneeling on the bed in front of Will, worn out on the bed. Hannibal moved his hand faster with an open mouth, and soon he came on Will's chest. They were both breathing heavily when Hannibal joined Will on the bed. Will cleaned himself with the tip of the sheets and turned to Hannibal, who was already turned to face him.

Will touched Hannibal's face and moved closer to kiss him, closing his eyes. They lay there just touching their foreheads together and trying to gain their composure once again when Hannibal confessed in a whisper:

"I love you, Will. I want to spend the rest of my days with you. There is no pressure about the wedding, I just want a stabilized and serious relationship with you. A stable family for Abigail and us to begin with."

"We will," Will smiled, hugging him closer, "We are the same, you and I. We're gonna live forever. Together." He laid quietly for a moment, looking at Hannibal, when his fingers moved to touch Hannibal's forehead wound, from his fight with Jack in the kitchen. "What if Jack finds us?"

"He's in no condition for coming after us at the moment, you can be sure of that, Will," Hannibal caressed Will's cheek and spoke quietly. "But he will come."

They exchanged looks and Will nodded, turning the lights off and going to sleep for now. Will fell asleep quickly in Hannibal's arms, but Hannibal decided to wait for Abigail. The young girl arrived soon after Will had drifted off to sleep and only then could he rest in peace. One happy family. He couldn't wait to tell her the good news in the morning.

When the morning had come Abigail was already packing while dealing with her headache. She couldn't describe the feeling of moving in to a brand new house with her fathers. To get to know the neighborhood and her new neighbors. Especially to decorate her new room. She had been wishing for her own room – her own bed – for so long and now everything was turning out fine.

Apparently everyone in the apartment woke up really early. They were all nervous about what they were supposed to do that day. Hannibal was in the kitchen preparing breakfast when she left the bedroom with her prepared bag on her shoulder. She dropped the backpack on the couch and moved to the counter in the kitchen.

"How was last night?" Hannibal asked, without turning around to her as he prepared some eggs.

"Great. I think I've made a new friend. Her name is Chiara."

"Good. You should be making friends of your age, it will be good for you. It's been a while since you haven't been connected only with adults, don't you think?"

"I'm not complaining; all the people I've met since my father's death were great company to me. Especially you and Will," Hannibal served her some eggs and sausage on a plate and looked back at her, "But you're right, I should be making new friends. She goes to the University of Florence."

"You've been thinking about college, then?" he asked, a little proud of her since he didn't have to broach the subject again.

"I am."

"Is that the college you have chosen?" he asked, joining her at the table.

"Yes. I've heard it's the best in Florence."

"And it is. Università degli Studi di Firenze. It's located on the Piazza di San Marco, close to our new home."

Hannibal stopped for a moment when Will appeared at the door in his pajamas, going straight to the Italian coffee machine to get some coffee.

"Did you hear that, our daughter has decided which university to attend."

Will turned around to face them, leaning on the sink behind him.

"I bet she'll be accepted. Do you know what you want to study?" Will asked, joining them at the table with a mug in his hands.

Abigail then noticed the ring on Will's finger. Her blue eyes wided a little before she turned her gaze to Will.

"Faculty of Law. I think it suits my knack for manipulation and reading habits," she stopped for a moment, looking back at the shining ring, then up to Hannibal this time. "I'm a survivor. I think the life of crime suits me well."

They sat in silence for a little while, absorbing her words. They didn't feel like saying anything to contest her words because they were true. In a beautiful sense of every word. And they all accepted each other for what they were.

"You'll have a brilliant future, dear."

Abigail smiled at Hannibal then looked at Will.

"Speaking about brilliant, what a piece of art you now own, Dad. Were you going to tell me about it, or should I wait for the right time?" she joked about it, curious about what they were going to say about it. She pratically already knew but she wanted to hear it from their mouths.

They smiled and looked at each other. Will lifted his mug to his lips and Hannibal decided to speak for them. "Last night I asked Will to marry me. He said yes."

Abigail's eyes shined for a moment and she smiled too, a bright smile. She was incredibly happy about her dads getting married - it seemed like a dream come true. Married parents, a new house just for the three of them, starting university. It didn't feel real at all. She wanted someone to pinch her so that she knew she wasn't dreaming that she could finally understand what direction her life was taking.

She wasn't just happy for herself, she was happy for them. They were different towards her - Hannibal more like a strict father, and Will a little more liberal than him - but the way she felt towards them was the same. Her old life, old parents, were all dead and buried in the past. There was only her neck scar to help her remember them. Everything was different now and her foster fathers were perfect and in synchronicity with her, in a way she had never felt with her real father.

"So when is the wedding?" she asked with a silly smile on her face. She hadn't noticed, but she was blushing.

"We don't know yet. There is too much to be done before it happens." Hannibal spoke, biting his toast.

"I say just let it happen, in time." Will winked at Abigail, who smiled shyly. "Let's settle in first, apply to the university… which reminds me, I should pack my things in the bathroom." He stood up, finished his coffee in one sip, and left the mug on the table.

"Are you ready?" Hannibal asked, standing also, but to put all the dirty dishes in the sink.

"Yeah, I just really need new clothes. I've been wearing the same pair of pants for days."

"We'll make a shopping trip on the weekend; we all need new clothes. Let's worry about the furniture for the house first."

Hannibal was also ready to leave at that point. They waited for Will in the living room, while chatting about this new friend of Abigail's, Chiara. She was the daughter of diplomats so it was easy for them to communicate. When Abigail mentioned her address Hannibal added that it was in a neighbourhood near them. Will appeared in the living room carrying his bag and they all left in the rental car for the new house.

With a quiet lane, cypress trees, and a creamy-coloured facade, the house had a Renaissance architecture. It seemed luxurious, but in a more modest way. The house was enormous, with two floors and several columns supporting a balcony that was going to become Abigail's large balcony. There were another two columns in front of the front door, supporting Will and Hannibal's smaller balcony.

The house had a pastel salmon tone and the columns were cream-coloured. There was a pool to the left side of the front door, which you could see through the large windows in the dining and living rooms. What made the house even more appealing was the column of green leaves covering part of the house. It seemed like the perfect house for them.

They entered the house and left their bags next to the entrance. The dark wooden floor didn't make any noise as they walked through the house, designing their own perspectives of the furniture to be in the house. They had only ordered their mattress, piled in the living room, so far. After moving them to the upper floor along with the bags they decided to take a walk around the neighbourhood.

There were people walking with their dogs and children playing outside. The rain had stopped for today and the sun was clear in the sky, which made Abigail suggest that they go to get some ice cream. Hannibal recomended they should walk, since everything was really close to their home. They had lunch and ice cream and walked to an antique dealer to buy some of their furniture; mostly all of it actually, including pieces for bedrooms and the living room, deciding on all of their choices together. Then they went to a fancy store to buy the kitchen items. Both of these stops were Hannibal's conditions for the organization of the house. The rest was up for Will and Abigail to decide.

At the end of the day they had everything ordered to arrive at their home on the following day. It had been a long and tiresome day, but to be completely honest - which any of the last few days were - it didn't really matter because the feeling of harmony about filling their house with happiness and objects symbolizing the connection between them was amazing.

They ordered pizza for the night and ate dinner around a towel, on the floor. Will and Abigail were filled with pure joy, but Hannibal didn't like idea of eating on the floor, not for a split-second, which led him to use a disgusted face throughout all of dinner. It had been another great day and everything seemed fine, but how long could things be so perfect like that?

Will kept this question in mind for the rest of the night, even when he was cuddling with Hannibal on a mattress on the floor. It would take time to get to them, but he knew Jack; he would find them and catch them. Even with them living with completely different names and bank accounts, and everything else needed to made things really difficult for the FBI. And when Jack finally had his hands on them, then what - would they kill him too? He wasn't sure if he was ready to commit such an act against Jack. For now, he could only try to stay assured that they were safe there and everything was fine.

The next morning Hannibal woke up to the sound of the front doorbell. He got dressed really quickly, wondering why they were there so early, and went to answer the door. The new furniture was ready to be put in place really early that morning; when Will got up, there was movement all around the house. There were several people that annoyed the hell out of him, just for being there.

As he went downstairs he found Abigail leading two men carrying pieces of what looked to be her bed. They greeted him and he kept walking downstairs. There, he found Hannibal in the kitchen, which was already half-done. There were boxes on the counter and he was putting the plates and crystal glasses in order, inside the kitchen cabinets.

"We were just waiting for you to wake up for them to start on our room."

"You could have woken me up earlier. Do we have any coffee?"

Hannibal looked back at him and moved closer to the sink where an Italian coffee machine was still warm, containing some fresh coffee. Hannibal took one mug from inside one of the boxes and served Will, putting the mug in front of him.

"Thank you," he stopped for a moment to listen to all the sounds going on in the house then continued, "it seems like a murder scene, somehow."

Hannibal took his own mug and drank a little. "Do you miss it?" he asked.

Will nodded slowly, wandering off inside his mind. "I do, but it's different now. I was aware it was killing me inside, and only further potentialized the symptoms of… whatever I have. Now I feel better. But what if feeling better only makes me worse?"

Hannibal came closer, leaning on the counter, and looked closely at Will. "You still have your nightmares and hallucinations, isn't that right?"

Will just looked back at him for several seconds before replying. "Yeah, but..."

"It means you're not well enough. You still need treatment, Will, and a supervisor. But you could still go back to your old profession, you could even be a teacher, if that's what you want."

"Yeah..." Will was lost in thought, "I think it will… be better. At least for now," his gaze finally found Hannibal's and he smiled just a little, "You're right. Dealing with books is better than dealing with people, cases, and… well, death will still be the major topic of my classes. What we need to do is find jobs for us, preferably this week."

"I'll be using the office for my appointments; I too want to start working as soon as possible and, speaking of which, I would like you to help me with the books in there," he finished his drink and put the mug in the sink, "Now."

Will arched his eyebrows at the order but left his mug where it was and followed him into the office next to the living room. Every room in the house was enormous, but this one was a little more spacious than the others. It had two floors and reminded him a lot of Hannibal's previous office. Maybe it was that big because it was also a library; there were men over to the side putting everything in place, including boxes and boxes of books.

They paused for lunch, but soon were all back to helping each other put everything in order. At the end of the day every piece of furniture was in place, but there was still one box or another around the house, especially inside their bedrooms. It seemed like everything was almost done, but they weren't even close. Will changed into his blue short-shorts and white t-shirt and threw himself on the bed after a hot shower.

"I feel like sleeping for days, Hannibal," he searched for the other with his eyes, finding the other leaving the bathroom of the suite. He was walking slowly closer to him while drying his hair with a towel; another was hung around his hips. Will had to control himself and keep from licking his lips, and speak like none of those naughty thoughts had crossed his mind.

"We can't just yet. There are still things to do around here tomorrow, and I believe we will be done with them only by nightfall; there are so many service-providers to call and things to be installed. Since it will be Saturday after that I thought we could go to the mall and do some shopping. All of us need it, hastily."

"Can't we just go another time?" Will asked, putting his arm on his face and hiding his eyes, "I hate going shopping."

Hannibal sighed and moved to the closet to change. "Only if you wanted me to chose for you."

Will moved his arm to rest on his forehead and looked at Hannibal, who had his back to him. "You're not gonna dress me in the finest Italian suits and bow ties, are you?"

Hannibal chuckled at that image and turned back to him, almost finished dressing. "Of course not. But, honestly, you would look ravishing in Italian silk."

"Please, don't" Will smiled and got under the blankets. The new bed was fantastic and the silky sheets felt amazing in contact with his skin. Suddenly, when Hannibal was already positioned on the other side of the bed, Will's features turned quite sad.

"What if… I mean…when they find us, what are we gonna do?" he asked, a bit concerned. "Jack's probably going to be leaving the hospital soon, if he hasn't already, and if the FBI doesn't find us, he will."

" _If_ they find us. They can't find us here, Will, and if they do, we'll flee. We'll kill them all, if we have to." He pulled Will closer and hugged him, smelling his scent of rose soap and mint conditioner. "Don't worry about it. We travelled and are living under different names; they don't have the slightest idea of where we are," he turned Will's head by his chin so he could look at him and spoke very close to his lips, "They don't have the best working for them anymore."

The next morning, Hannibal noticed Abigail was already up and turning her room into a real bedroom. He asked what she wanted for breakfast and then went downstairs. Will woke up to the smell of eggs and coffee and took a cold shower. He wanted to go ahead and put all the stuff inside the boxes away in the right places, but he decided to join them in the kitchen.

It was the first meal in their brand new house, the talking being fun and pleasant. They discussed that Abigail should write her letters to the universities and send them that same day, while Will was going to interview at the Florence Polizia Dipartimento. All of them, except for Will himself, were sure he would get the job as a Criminal Investigation teacher. Hannibal was planning on going after patients in hospitals that needed a psychiatrist. Then, he would move his appointments into the house. He would be carefully choosing every patient, to be more precise.

Once they had left, Abigail was left alone. Her first thought was to finish her bedroom and then she could start with the letters. She started out well, but almost at the end of it she got tired and sighed heavily. It wasn't easy to write such letters and pick out universities that she didn't even know about. There was too much to research; and that's when she decided to pick up her phone. Chiara's number appeared on the screen and she pushed the button to call her.

In less than an hour, Chiara honked at Abigail's gates. From the dining room she opened them with the electric control. The room had big windows going from the ceiling almost to the ground, and the gate could easily be seen. Abigail was anxious about bringing a friend into the house and was happy because the other girl seemed so nice the other night. She opened the front door and smiled at the other girl walking towards the entrance.

It was obvious that Chiara wore the best designer clothes in Italy – maybe even in other countries, too. She had high-heeled boots and wore a scarf just like Abigail, but in a different way. She had a brown hat and pants with a nice top. Her hair was long, straight, and brown with some little hightlights. Abigail thought she looked just like a supermodel, although she was too short to be one.

"Hey, welcome," Abigail opened her arms to show the place, looked up to the balcony, and back to the girl now in front of her.

The other hugged her and smiled, "Grazie. You have a lovely home here," she spoke with a thick accent.

"Come on in," Abigail closed the door behind them and led the other girl to her room. She sat on the bed with violet sheets and smiled at Chiara.

"So what do you wanna do?"

When Chiara's car left the grounds the sunset was vivid in the sky. Abigail walked to the kitchen and opened the fridge, taking out some orange juice. That's when she heard the front door opening and closing. Will appeared in the kitchen with a brown bag in one hand and a black briefcase in the other.

"Hi, did you get groceries?" she asked, trying to sound interested.

"I thought we could surprise your dad and make dinner ourselves. He'll be out for a little longer."

Abigail genuinely smiled.

"Sounds like a great idea, but wouldn't he be mad to come home and not have anything to cook?"

"We can figure that out later, but for now come over here and start cutting these cavolos. Wash them first."

What Abigail had remarked was important. Will knew, though, that Hannibal wouldn't be mad. He probably would be confused, even amused. But not mad. In fact, he thought it was going to be pretty funny to see his face when they were done with dinner. Besides, having these little times with Abigail, and only Abigail, were moments he would like to save forever in his mind.

In less than an hour the kitchen looked like a tornado had passed through it. There were chopped, colorful things all over the counter as they prepared the entree and the main dish; they were dirty with flour and vegetable oil. It wasn't anything as fancy as something Hannibal would make, but they tried their best. The meat was inside the oven and was already smelling good. Abigail had gone to take a shower and change for dinner when Hannibal entered the house.

He had the same bag that he always carried after a murder, probably containing some organs. He left the bag on top of the counter and looked around, not saying anything, smelling each piece of food that had been prepared over the last hour. Only after that did he put his eyes on Will, still all dirty from all the mess. He had a mischevious smile on his lips.

"Does it smell good enough for you?" Will asked, hesitantly.

"Did you make this mess by yourself?"

"Abigail helped me. She's upstairs taking a shower because she looked like I do," he looked down at himself then back to Hannibal.

"You look ready to be put in the oven," Hannibal said quietly, approaching the other with careful footsteps.

Will gulped. He lifted his hand to put on Hanniba'ls shoulder but the doctor grabbed his wrist. "You can only touch me after you clean yourself up from all this flour, otherwise you will ruin my suit," he let go of his wrist and leaned closer to kiss Will's lips, breaking it after a little while to speak close to them still, "You taste like flour, too." He tsked.

He turned to open his bag and prepare the meat to go in the fridge. Will said nothing about it, only observing while he dealt with the capsicums. Hannibal asked about the job interview and Will simply shrugged and said that the job was his now. The other smirked, "Of course it is."

When Hannibal was done with the organs and Will done with the capsicums, Hannibal sat on a chair close to the counter and observed Will finishing the salad. He was glad that they had made… whatever was cooking at the moment; even if it turned out bad, it would be a good memory because he felt loved like he never had before. But he was, and he knew that now.

"It still needs 15 minutes before it's ready. I've put the timer on; would you please take it out while I take a shower?"

Will interrupted his thoughts. He nodded and went to sit in the living room, deciding to play the piano while he waited for his family to get ready for dinner. Of course he had had bloody hands, but he was always careful to be clean afterwards. Abigail soon came downstairs, her hair wet and combed, and let her neck breathe without anything covering it. She joined Hannibal at the piano and listened for a while.

"A friend of mine came over earlier, before I finished the letters."

"The one you mentioned the other day?"

"Yes," she made a pause, enough to catch Hannibal's attention, but he didn't stop playing, "I like her a lot, I already see her as my best friend here," she laughed a bit nervously. Suddenly she stopped talking, just listening to her thoughts and the music that hadn't stopped playing, "We have a lot in common, her parents are diplomats, and she has travelled to many places, but she's Italian. She can speak many languages, just like you."

Hannibal listened to it all very carefully and suddenly he stopped playing. He turned to Abigail to have a better look at her features. "It's good to make new friendships, Abigail. Just be careful… sometimes people are not what they appear to be. My advice is for you to go slow and acclimate your new friendship. Do not put your happiness into the hands of someone you just met."

"You mean this friendship could go very, very wrong?"

"That's right."

"Yours with Dad turned out very, very well."

"Is that the way you feel towards..."

"Chiara. And no. She's really just a friend."

That's when they heard the beeping coming from kitchen and Hannibal hurried to take the meal out of the oven, putting some oven mitts on before doing it. Abigail followed him and had an expectant look on her face.

"Ah. Chargrilled Pork Chop with Peppers," he looked back at Abigail, "Interesting option." 

"I'll set the table!" she exclaimed, getting some napkins, plates, forks and knives. She walked to the dining room and started to position the utensils.

One minute later Will came down the stairs to meet his lover alone in the kitchen. He had noticed on his way to the kitchen that Abigail was in the dining room, and that almost all of the food that had been on the counter in the kitchen was now in the dining room as well. Hannibal was about to carry the main dish when the other approached quickly.

"Don't you worry, it's mine and Abigail's responsibility, you only have to sit and enjoy it," he said, putting his hand on Hannibal's arm. He approched him, and touched his lips to Hannibal's ear. "I'm all cleaned up, can I touch you now?" he asked in a seductive voice, moving one hand to touch Hannibal's belt.

Hannibal didn't expect that, but he loved every second of it. His hand moved to Will's waist and brought him close to whisper in his face. "Not now, maybe later, but you'll make me think about it throughout the entire dinner," he kissed him intensely for a moment before letting the other go, "But now we have a dinner with our daughter."

Will smirked and carried the dish into the dining room, where Abigail was already seated, drinking a glass of cold sparkling water. Will left the dish in the middle of the table and sat beside Hannibal, in front of Abigail, with Hannibal in the middle; at the highest position on the table. Hannibal took his first bite with Will and Abigail's eyes full of expectation. He tasted the food slowly and after that he winked at both of them, individually.

"For two people who don't cook too often I would say it tastes... satisfactory."

The dinner was surprisingly delicious. Some of the tastes to Hannibal seem inaccurate, but he appreciated what they had done. He spent the entire dinner, while still participating in the conversation, thinking about what Will said earlier in the kitchen. Will wanted to touch him and he seemed kind of hungry for it, or maybe he was just hungry for the food. But there was something different in his eyes that night. They hadn't been doing anything else other than what had happened on the night that Hannibal had proposed. They hadn't had the time to buy any supplies, so sticking with the foreplay seemed good enough for now; but it was Hannibal that was the one who always went down on Will. It seemed like Will was willing the be the one going down tonight. At least, that's where Hannibal's thoughts stopped by the time dinner was over.

Will and Abigail left everything in the sink, trying to clean the kitchen up a little before going to bed. Will hugged her in the middle of the stairs, while they walked up, and kissed her cheek.

"It was fun," he said, when they were upstairs.

She smiled.

"It really was. Thanks for doing that with me, it..." she stopped to find the right words. "meant a lot, Dad."

Will felt something different attack him from the heart and started to warm all up inside. Is that what they called true parental love? He entered his bedroom thinking about it and at first didn't notice Hannibal on the other side of the room, changing into his night clothes.

"Abigail is getting really attached to us," he announced, finally looking at Hannibal, who had just dressed into his long-sleeved night shirt. "Especially to you."

"Now, you're not jealous, are you, Will?" Hannibal asked, getting into bed.

Will shook his head, "No, I think it's great that we all are getting along so well," he put his knee on the bed and crawled closer to Hannibal, leaning on his forearms with his stomach pressed against the mattress, "What I meant is that she acts like we are her true fathers."

Hannibal turned to him, putting one elbow on the pillow and resting his head on his hand. "But aren't we?" he asked, sliding one finger down the middle of Will's back, starting close to his neck and stopping on his hips, resting his hand there. "Being a foster father doesn't make you any less of a father than what Jacob Hobbs was for Abigail."

Will gazed at Hannibal for a while to absorb the words and then nodded, coming closer for a kiss. Hannibal slid his hand that was already on Will's hips to his waist, pulling him closer. He lay his head on the pillow, bringing Will to lie on top of him. They kept the kiss slow and calm, but Will had other intentions that, he wouldn't lie, made his heart jump a little faster.

"You were pretty aware of my intentions tonight, weren't you?" he whispered in his ear, licking it with the tip of his tongue, and then scraped Hannibal's neck with his teeth, carefully, as his hand danced closer to the waistband of Hannibal's pajamas pants, "I bet you thought about it through the entire dinner."

Once again, Hannibal was a little surprised. There was no denying that he loved this side of Will that he had never met before – but, well, they had never been lovers before either. All he could say about it was that he fancied it very much. And since Will was ready to do something different from what they had been doing it was a good sign. It was basically Will saying that he trusted Hannibal enough to do that and, of course, that he was willing to do it; and with him, which was the most important part about it all.

"I did," he confessed, both hands flying to Will's shirt, skimming his fingers on his skin, "The thoughts I had could easily make you blush, do you want to hear them?"

As Will slowly moved down, pushing Hannibal's shirt up and kissing all the way down, he heard Hannibal's naughty thoughts about him, what he wanted him to do, how he would teach him all the different ways, how he was sure that his mouth was going to taste delicious around him. That turned Will on drastically and soon he was pulling Hannibal's sweatpants down and initiating something that he didn't know he would like so much. Hannibal did as he said he would, leading Will, but still letting him do his own thing. Luckily for Hannibal, but not really surprisingly, Will was brilliant at it. He could just lie there for hours and have only this the entire time without any problem.

Hannibal made some noises and Will did as well, trying not to out of embarrassment. He slowly started to enjoy it and got more into it, to Hannibal's pleasure. He warned Will when he was about to finish and he moved away, using just his hand to finish him. When Hannibal was done, Will with the tip of his finger touched the substance to taste it. At that moment, he looked up to Hannibal and proved it by putting his finger inside his mouth then spreading it along his bottom lip.

"You're being so indecent right now that I if I didn't know any better, I would never take you as a first timer."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Notes **:** This chapter contains graphic depictions of violence and explicit smut. Also, it skips back and forward and back again in time but its quite easy to put the pieces together, they are quite organized, separeted by underline. The changes in time applies only to this chapter and not the first. One last thing, the penultimate scene was based on one of Quentin Tarantino **'** s stories so here are my credits to him. Enjoy!

When Abigail pulled the knive out of her friend's heart, the blood splashed on her Prada dress, the table, the floor, and all over Chiara, who had a surprised face. Hannibal hit Mr. Tonelli with a hatchet in the jugular, causing a serious wound there and a huge jolt of blood to splash over the floor, the wound deep and open for the fat to be seen. Mrs. Tonelli managed to stand up and turn to Will, asking for her life. Will didn't hesitate and stabbed her multiple times with a cleaver. The three of them kept stabbing their victims and their blood started to mix with one another's. Abigail let the bladed knife fall to the ground and, bloodied from bottom to top, walked slowly to the kitchen, passing by her parents still stabbing their victims.

Abigail had that face she wore when totally in control of herself while panicking. She looked for the hacksaw and, after delicately taking it, she walked back to the dinning room. Hannibal stopped what he was doing to observe her. He was all bloody, matching with his red shirt, with hair all over his forehead and eyes. She walked slowly, standing by the body of the other girl. The body was still seated, with its head thrown back. Abigail, with two fingers, pushed the body, which dropped onto the bloody floor. She kneeled beside it.

Hannibal got Will's attention once he touched him, to look out from under the table at what Abigail was doing. She was behaving like they weren't even there. They observed in silence as Abigail grabbed the hacksaw and started to saw the sternum in half. Apparently she took Hannibal's classes pretty seriously because after a while they heard a loud crack; it was only Abigail trying hard to separate the two columns of ribs. She was breathing fast, but even still, and put her hand inside of the corpse after once again taking the bladed knife she had previously dropped; she cut all the arteries, veins and capillares, literally harvesting the heart.

She stood up, still looking at the heart, and then looked at her parents. They were both bloody as well. Will had an unreadable feature on his face, like he had seen something disturbingly beautiful. And Hannibal, well, he stood up as well. They had the dinner table between then, and she slowly offered him the heart. His face was filled with pure excitement. It was pride. He accepted the heart, not taking his eyes away from Abigail's. She had tears in her eyes.

"For our next dinner. I could happily help you cook this, Daddy."

Three months had passed since they moved to Florece and it still felt like they had moved just yesterday. Will was working as a teacher at the Academy, Hannibal had already moved his appointments to the house and Abigail, well, she was accepted by the University of Florence to study Law. When she had received the letter back, accepting her, there was a party in the house and they all went out to celebrate. Things couldn't be better for them.

She was still living with them mostly because she didn't want to be far from them. Abigail loved her home and her parents and, well, her best friend, Chiara. Abigail spoke to many other girls in college but it was only with Chiara that she felt a true connection. For the last three months the girl had seemed friendly, great company, funny and interesting. But recently, Abigail had noticed some changes in her behavior. Or to put it in better words, her behavior toward Abigail.

Lately, Chiara had been making Abigail feel bad about herself; telling her to change her hair, or her eyebrows, or that she needed to lose some weight. She said she wanted Abigail to talk with her around the campus with her and her friends, but she needed to change some things about herself.

One thing that really made Abigail think a lot about it was when Chiara told her that people in college were saying bad things about her, and that it was a bad thing for her to walk with someone everyone was speaking shit about. Abigail couldn't seem to find a reason, though. She was nice to everybody and felt fine with her appearance. She didn't know what to change about herself to fit in.

Abigail started to pass most of her time with Chiara, especially at her place. Chiara wanted to impress with her foreign furniture and foreign parents, but Abigail was in the same position. Maybe she did that so much and was so selfish that she didn't even notice that. It was the little things that really hurt Abigail when she was with her friend.

She did consider her as a friend. They talked about everything and anything, they spent all their free time together, they liked the same movies, took walks together, and they had even shared a kiss once. Chiara could be a real bitch but she was just a freak, just like Abigail. She had some really twisted habits. One of them was a game called "Chew and Spit", where they bought expensive candies and chewed them but spit instead of eating, so they wouldn't gain weight. Chiara also taught her how to shoplift. But nothing compared to Chiara's latest bright idea.

In the Lecter-Graham mansion, you could hear an insistent bark. One of the eight strays was jumping around Will, who was finishing up getting some food ready to put out for all the dogs. Florence had a reasonable number of stray dogs and everytime Will came across one he tried to approach it. Ending up like this, with eight dogs, and Hannibal dealing with it, was something that Will so far liked to see. Hannibal always made this face when the dogs were being importunate or loud, or even too festive, but it was clear to Will that he did love their dogs. Or at least, liked them.

It started with one. It hadn't surprised Hannibal at all and Abigail was happy to have a pet in the house. Then another night Will brought two, which made the couple have a little argument. Will explained that it was his motto to collect all stray dogs that he found. At least they could all be comfortable on their grounds. It was when the fourth and fifth came through the gates that Hannibal put his hands on his hips and decided to have a serious conversation with Will, claiming that the "dirty carpets" thing was getting out of control. With a little special persuasion Will made Hannibal agree for them to have at least eight, but with all of them out of the house. This then made Will build some simple but comfortable kennels for them to live in outside. Those were Hannibal's conditions.

Will felt complete now. He had his job that he loved, a caring family that he loved, and now his dogs to keep him company on a different level; different from relationships with human beings. He needed those dogs like those dogs needed him. He loved to take care of them, bathe them, heal them, walk them around the neighbourhood. It made him feel at peace and he couldn't be any happier that Abigail loved them all very much and Hannibal was trying to like them in his own way. Everything seemed calm and in the right place, he thought, caressing one of the cutest dogs named Murder, of course, suggested by Hannibal. Hannibal didn't interact very much with the animals so Abigail and Will were responsible for their well-being.

Will and Abigail had started to fish on the lake close to the house a couple of months after moving in, and those moments were some of the favourites between them. Abigain, being a skilled hunter, was soon an expert in fishing and she and Will spent hours in the lake fishing for some fresh fish for dinner. She loved this dad-daughter relationship with Will and he couldn't say otherwise; he felt the same towards her. They both knew Hannibal felt the same; they could easily make a bet that he was the one who cared the most about the family being as united as they were.

Lastly, for Hannibal, things were a bit more intense than what they seemed. Of course the other two knew all about the murders and who Il Mostro di Firenze really was, but they were always quiet about it. He didn't knew if they agreed, disagreed but just would never tell or, simply, didn't care. They accepted what he did, about the hunt, the anatomical pieces. That was incontestable, since they ate everything he prepared, and this time Abigail was aware of that.

He had been monitoring her behavior that had been changing for the last month, but at the same time, she seemed okay. Obviously he knew something was wrong but felt like it wasn't the time to corner her and ask her about it. She could easily manipulate him to believe in what she wanted. Or at least, that was something she thought she could do with him. She had done it before countless times. So he waited and observed closely. He wanted her to deal with it by herself, to make her stronger.

On the other hand, Will seemed better than ever. His hallucinations diminished to rare events and the dogs kept him busy and content. Their relationship was more solid than ever before; it was like they were already married. All the awkwardness and buttlerflies-in-the-stomach had passed and it was the easiest thing in the world for them to approach each other now. They always exteriorized it to Abigail, who seemed full of joy but also embarrassed. They weren't showing off, it was just the matter that the three were always together and sometimes Will and Hannibal showed their affections to each other in the same room with Abigail. But in the end, they were a well-behaved couple.

The idea of a ceremony of any kind was abstract and puzzling so they never spoke about it. Honestly, it didn't feel like they had to and if they did, it would be completely different from the usual ritual. What they had was already pure bliss as it was. And of course they already had had their first time. More than two, to be a little more precise. In Hannibal's nightstand, he kept an unflavoured bottle of lube and two small, discrete vessels containing Will's and Hannibal's condoms seperatly, differentiated by length and width. They were still trying to figure out who was the bottom and who was the top, but that was just another detail that didn't matter. Both dynamics worked just fine.

Hannibal had already a considerable number of patients who he attended to inside the office of his mansion. Any of them represented some challenge, like most patients. However, Hannibal was getting more and more anxious for something to happen, or if it was what he had to do – make something happen. Not that he wasn't enjoying his life, quite the contrary, he had never been happier in his life. It was just this thing about him, that lived deep within him. A dark, messy and bloody one that craved destruction and reconstruction in other ways. He often thought that the three of them were killers and that maybe, well, maybe they could do it again, together. If the opportunity crossed their paths. He thought that maybe doing it together could solidify a pact; become stronger than any deal. It would be something everlasting.

Hannibal lit the fireplace in their bedroom to make the room seem more romantic. Abigail was sleeping at her friend's and they could finally be alone in what seemed like a long time. Will was still in the bathroom, previously taking a hot shower, and Hannibal used the time to light some candles and open a bottle of wine.

As he was serving the drink, Will left the bathroom in his short-shorts and white shirt, while Hannibal was using a black, heavy robe. Will noticed the romance in the air, the fireplace, the aromatic candles, and Hannibal dressed only in a robe, offering him a glass of red wine.

"To us."

Will clincked his glass with Hannibal's and tasted the fine wine. He hummed in delight and kissed Hannibal's lips, quickly.

"This wine is delicious."

"I was saving it for a special occasion."

"A special occasion where we would be dressed in pajamas?" Will asked, with a smile.

"Surprisingly, the vestment is not important tonight, Will. What matters is that we have the house to ourselves."

"To that," Will toasted again, sitting beside Hannibal on the small dark red sofa in front of their fireplace.

Hannibal put his arm around him, also observing the fireplace. The room was getting warm. Will sipped his drink, inhaling the scent before drinking. The silence felt good and it fit with the ambience.

"Isn't it gorgeous? I hope we have the coldest winter ever," Will spoke when he saw it had started to snow again.

"And even still you insist on using such clothes for winter," Hannibal looked at Will's bare legs, wearing those short-shorts. His eyes looked up to meet Will's, "I'm not complaining, it was only a remark."

Will's hand moved to touch Hannibal's thigh over his black heavy robe, leaving it there.

"I'm aware of the way you look at me when I'm dressed like this. I'm flattered."

Hannibal moved his face so his nose could touch Will's hair and spoke really quietly to him.

"I want to try something tonight."

"What?" Will asked, cautiously. He sipped his drink again.

Hannibal nuzzled his curly hair; it smelled like mint and he got quite lost in the moment that he almost forgot to answer, "I want you to call me Daddy."

"Daddy, really?" Will asked, skeptical, turning his head to look at him.

Hannibal stopped nuzzling his head and looked back at Will. He simply nodded, leaving his glass on the small table in front of them, "It makes me feel in control of you," his hand skimmed one of Will's legs, from his knee to his thigh, "Just give it a try. Maybe you'll like it, too."

Will just looked at him. He was considering what he thought at first to have been just a joke. As it slowly became quite real he seemed to approve of it. His hand, rested on Hannibal's thigh, slid with desire as he put his drink on the table as well.

"If you put it that way," he smoothly spoke, getting close to Hannibal's lips, "Daddy," he tried and oh, he liked it. Hannibal grabbed the skin on Will's thigh, from the bottom, where the shorts started, and kissed him hungrily.

Will kept it up but didn't hush any more than that. He kissed him back, putting his other hand on his face, bringing him closer. His hand was still on Hannibal's thigh, but now had found his skin, under the robe. He wasn't wearing any pants.

Soon, Hannibal was pulling Will's ass closer to him, so Will moved by himself to sit comfortably on Hannibal's lap, straddling him and bending his legs. He put one hand on Hannibal's face and pulled him closer for another kiss, in control of it now. Hannibal's hands were settled on Will's shorts, close to his butt. His fingers skimmed inside the fabric at the bottom of them.

Will grabbed the back of the couch and kissed him deeply. He was feeling this strange feeling inside of him, like he wanted to hunt, break, hurt, kill Hannibal. They were hungry for each other and they showed it in the kiss. Will started to move his hips, slowly, against Hannibal.

Hannibal groaned at this, moving his hands to Will's hips, helping him move. Soon his fingers were inside his white, plain shirt, slowly stripping him out of it. Hannibal tossed the shirt somewhere on the floor and he paused the kiss for a moment, so he could appreciate the sight for a while.

"Like what you see, Daddy?" Will asked innocently, playing the game.

Hannibal skimmed his fingers on Will's shoulders, chest, abdomem and stopped at his hips. His eyes wandered with every move of his touches. He looked up then, to Will, and nodded before staring at Will's erection inside his shorts.

"Yeah, Daddy likes it a lot."

He breathed out.

Their lips met again and Will started to move again, with more intention this time. He was getting painfully hard inside those shorts and he could swear Hannibal was wearing nothing but the robe. Will was glad when Hannibal moved his hand to touch his member above the fabric. He let out a moan, encoraging him to keep touching as he moved closer to his hand.

"Now, don't rush it. Daddy will take good care of you tonight,"

"How good?" Will asked carefully, as Hannibal touched him up and down. After that question Hannibal touched at the wet spot on Will's shorts and lowered them a bit, showing the head of his cock.

"Oh, very good," he whispered before kissing him again and touching his thumb to the wet head, circulating it with his finger. Will held back a moan but let out a sigh instead, gripping Hannibal by the shoulder. When his thumb was all wet, he brough it to his mouth and licked it, looking at Will. "My sweet boy."

It was mesmerizing to watch Hannibal lick his thumb like that, but what was even more exciting was when he held Will by his hips and threw him onto the couch. He was laying on his back now with spread legs as Hannibal came closer. He sealed their lips together, on top of him on the small couch.

After a while of just kissing, Hannibal moved away a little so he could remove Will's shorts completely. He did it slowly, fascinated by Will's skin in the moonlight. The shorts were soon discarded and Hannibal settled himself between Will's legs. They stayed there, slowly kissing, Hannibal deliberaterly touching Will, for several minutes.

Then, Hannibal noticed how hard Will already was, dripping loads of precome that made Hannibal salivate, and he was concerned he had wasted too much already but, kissing him was simply the best part of all of this with Will. How could he be blamed for it?

He kissed his neck instead, moving down on him until his head was close to Will's pelvis. Will thought Hannibal was so good at giving head that sometimes he didn't even crave penetration. So he didn't mind, throwing his arms over his head and closing his eyes with a heavy sigh. And Hannibal really was; he was such a dedicated lover with Will.

It didn't take long for him to have Will moaning, holding his hair and shaking underneath him. Hannibal could feel Will throbbing in his mouth. So he suddenly stopped.

Will let a heavy, disappointed sigh leave his lips and looked down. He didn't look happy at all, his features changed drastically. He hated being denied like that.

"It's not the time yet, there's so much I still wanna do with you," Hannibal said, a little out of breath, on his neck, scratching it with his teeth.

"I thought you said you would take care of me," Will put his arms around Hannibal's neck, caressing the skin on his back. He had a light tone of disappointment in his voice.

"I will. You won't be disappointed, I can promise that," were his last words before picking up Will and walking to the bed. They kissed while Will was being carried and was put gently on the bed. Hannibal remained standing by the bed, making Will feel quite vulnerable under his eyes.

He slowly stripped, opening his robe and indeed, he had nothing underneath it. He was that hard just for sucking Will off. Of course, having him spread on his lap, gasping and kissing him, helped a lot. But now the view was so much better.

Will was laying on the bed, on his side, so he could cover himself a little. That was when he got on all fours, bitting his bottom lip, "I wanna taste you, Daddy," he said seriously, hungrily and decided to take Hannibal in his mouth. When he did, Hannibal threw his head back and put one hand over Will's head.

Will was new at this but he didn't lack talent. He tried to mirror Hannibal's movements on him because he thought that that was what he liked, since he had been giving it to him like that. And he was right. As Will kept sucking Hannibal, the other moved his hands to Will's back, leading them to his ass. He grabbed both cheeks, pulling him even closer, then moved his dry finger to his entrance.

Hannibal touched him just a little, since the other removed his cock from his mouth with a pop and sat back on his knees. That was just to show his swollen, wet lips. He soon put his hands on the back of Hannibal's neck. He kissed him deeply and between kisses he pulled Hannibal closer and whispered, "Come here."

Will started laying on the bed, bringing Hannibal with him. He lay on his back, Hannibal pinning him on the bed. And they stayed there, just kissing, for minutes.

The dimmed lights of the candles gave the perfect mood for them to keep touching, lovely and full of desire. There was confidence – with one another – in the air and that didn't make them feel nervous at all. Even though they hadn't done this too much, so far. "Turn around," Hannibal said on Will's neck, going back to kiss him on the lips.

Will broke the kiss to look at him and bit Hannibal's bottom lip before giving him a final look and moving underneath him, stomach pressing against the duvet. That gave enough time for Hannibal to look in the drawer of the night stand for a) his special bladed knife b) a condom and c) the unflavoured bottle of lube. He left the items on the pillow close to him and far from Will's sight and moved back to Will, kissing his shoulder.

Will leaned on his forearms and turned his head to kiss Hannibal. The other happily obliged. The feeling of moving his cock between Will's cheeks was amazing but with some lube would feel even better. So he broke the kiss and moved quickly to get the bottle. He touched himself with the substance and coated his fingers with it.

Hannibal put one pillow below Will's hips to lift his arse a little bit and lied again on Will's back, now sliding his cock with more precision between the cheeks of Will's arse. He moved his wet fingers to Will's entrance and slowly and provocatively slid them in.

He worked his fingers carefully inside him as Will sighed heavily, holding the duvet with his hands. Hannibal wanted him streatched out and loose so he wouldn't feel too much pain from the next act. He whispered words of love and promises of forever in his ear, kissing it and kissing his neck and biting his shoulder.

When he was sure Will was ready, moaning like he was, he took out his fingers inside of him. Hannibal got on his knees and moved Will's hips up so he could rest on both knees, still laying on his stomach. Hannibal took the second item, the condom, and slid it on himself. He was so soaking wet and hard that it was easy to put it on.

The view of Will's arse in the air, just for him, was magnificent. He moved close on his knees and slowly inserted himself, both of them echoing a grunting sound before he was completely settled in. Will breathed hard and fast when Hannibal was fully inside him, touching his cheeks with lust. He was kind enough to give Will a little time to adjust.

But soon, Hannibal started to move. Slowly but precisely. In and out, completely. Holding his waist, bringing him closer with each thrust. Hannibal lazily lay both of them on the mattress and Will's pelvis on the pillow and started to fuck him harder, making the other moan louder. Hannibal played his tongue on Will's skin; his ears, neck, shoulders and sometimes his lips and chin, leaving bites everywhere, making Will groan each time the bite was too hard.

The whispers were loud and Hannibal was moaning right next to Will's ear. He kept going for a while and slowly stopped. He removed himself from Will, making the other sigh heavily.

"Fuck, Hannibal, will you keep denying my orgasm all night long?" he asked, sharply.

Hannibal chuckled and turned Will over onto his back. He slowly inserted himself inside of him again, gaining a moan from Will. He didn't move, though, getting the knife on the pillow. He remained settled inside of him and started to play with the knife on Will's chest, without cutting him – yet. Will observed, wanting the other to move. When Hannibal started a slow pace he started to make small cuts on the middle of his chest. Will moaned from the pain but in a way, he liked it.

Hannibal came closer to lick the blood and quickened his pace, making small cuts on Will's chest and stopping his ministrations to lick the blood with satisfaction. He then slowed his pace so he could make a very noticible H on the left side of his chest. Will moaned loudly at this.

When Hannibal was finished, Will was all bloody and moaning from pain so he speed up his pace, insanely; only stopping to lick the blood, but never stopping his ministrations. He put the edge of the knife on Will's neck but didn't cut there, he just put the non-sharpened edge on his neck and kept fucking him madly.

The H carved on his chest would probably leave a scar and that was his intention, leaving his signature on Will's heart. He then put the knife aside and fucked him senseless until both of them came, mixing blood and cum all over the place.

And Hannibal, of course, was glad to lick it all up.  
_

It was a cold morning and Abigail was changing into her winter clothes. She liked the way her new clothes touched her skin, the way the colours of her dark blue, almost black, outfit fit her blue eyes. She buttoned her long sleeves, got her purse and went downstairs. Will was in the living room changing channels with the most bored face in the world.

"Bye, Dad. Im going to Chiara's," she waved good-bye.

Will turned his head to look at her.

"No, Abigail. Not today. The weather is really bad today and there's a high risk of blizzard for the entire state."

"No way," she said with a disappointed face, walking to Will, "We were supposed to hang out today."

"I suppose you'll have to hang out with us, Abigail," Hannibal spoke, coming their way from the kitchen. "You're not going out and driving in a snowstorm, dear."

Abigail sighed softly and sat next to Will, leaving her purse on the rug next to her. She took her phone from her pocket and started to tap the screen. Hannibal sat on the other side of Will and crossed his legs.

"I give up, there's only rubbish on the TV." Will left the remote on the short table in front of them and got up, deciding to turn the fireplace on.

As Will did that, Hannibal moved to turn the music on, playing Chopin, Nocturne in B Major Op. 32, No. 1, because he knew Abigail loved that song.

"Since the weather ruined your plans, at least you could enjoy being at home."

She was smiling, at the song and Hannibal's gesture, trying to make her have fun anyway. She took off her shoes and sat with her legs across her chest, holding her white socks. Will successfully turned the fireplace on and went to the kitchen to wash his hands. Hannibal opened all the curtains but left the windows safely closed.

The snow was falling slowly but in quite massive quantities, but the fireplace worked just fine to get them warm. So warm that after some minutes of talking with her parents, she decided to take off her coat, leaving just her long-sleeved shirt on. Hannibal served them wine to warm them up and Abigail was already feeling some heat in her cheeks.

Slowly, both Will and Hannibal tried to get to the truth about all of Abigail's odd behaviour the last month. For her part, there really was nothing wrong. She was doing wrong things; she knew about it, she just didn't care. And she didn't know who was doing it to her because that person was her only friend, who also seemed to love her back. It was just too hard to put a line between how good and how bad her friendship with Chiara was. She unbuttoned her sleeves and the fabric slid a bit down on her wrists. She was more lost in thought than truly speaking, when Will started staring and Hannibal clicked his lips.

"What is that on your wrist, Abigail?" Hannibal asked calmy, almost casually.

She opened her mouth for a moment and looked at her wrist, buttoning it again. Abigail had her hair covering her face as she spoke. She didn't want to look at them; Will had the most concerned eyes of a puppy imaginable.

"I thought you were happy here" he spoke bringing her to him and hugging her, sliding his fingers over her soft hair.

"I am. I truly am, it's just...She said I should do it, it would make me feel better, she… even did the first cut..."

Hannibal interruped by tossing his napkin on the table and getting up, buttoning his suit.

"That's enough. No more Chiara," he looked down at the other two, who were looking back at him. "And I mean – No. More," he walked closer to Abigail, lifting her face by her chin and spoke softly. "I'll tell you what you have to do."

Abigail thought she was her best friend. That they would be together to the end. But now Hannibal had opened her eyes. She had been completely blind, hoping for love on every street. She wasn't her friend and now she knew it. Chiara now wasn't the girl Abigail once knew; maybe she hadn't been even since the begining. Abigail had just been blind, like Hannibal said.

And there she was. Chiara. They were at a café warming up and making small talk. She kept talking about the pretty girls at the university, making it obvious that she simply wanted to be one of them. She was, but she wasn't part of the pack since she basically only walked with and talked to Abigail.

"My dad found out about our little game," Abigail sipped her coffee.

"Which one?" she asked, cautiously.

"Cutting the pain away," Abigail sounded a bit bored.

"No, shit. What did he do?"

"He got worried, of course. I promised never to do it again."

"Cutting on your ankle is also effective." Chiara suggested.

Abigail stared at her with deadly eyes but smiled like she meant it.

"Anyway, my dad's offered for you and your family to come to dinner at our house. Tomorrow night. Would you come, please?" she asked kindly.

"They wanna meet my folks? Well, that will be a surprise for them, to meet two men taking care of a girl my age."

Something inside Abigail twisted furiously but she kept her facade.

"Yeah, they want to meet them and learn more about you. They say I always speak of you, but they barely see you."

"Sure. I'll talk to them and tell you later."

They sat at the Cafe for a little longer then decided to go, each one to their own house. Abigail parked the car and took fast steps to the front door. She was excited about what they were going to do tonight and she wanted it to start fast. She locked the door behind her and left her purse hanging close the door.

"Dad?" she asked.

The house was silent. She walked slowly to the living room, dining room, then to the kitchen. There was no one to be seen. That's when she heard footsteps coming from the stairs. Hannibal was carrying a large kind of briefcase and walked to the dinner table, resting it there. Will soon appeared too and joined the other two around Hannibal. He opened the briefcase and there were contained several bladed knives, two cleavers, one hatchet and one hacksaw. There were also some papers and drawings of a human body among other small objects. It was time to learn how to hunt humans.

When the ebony clock in the dining room echoed eight o'clock, Hannibal was done preparing dinner. Abigail was wearing a lovely Prada dress; black with white vertical stripes and a belt at the waist. It had white stripes that held the dress from the shoulders, and also had a long grey sleeve and doll-like black shoes. She had her hair in a bun and just for tonight, didn't care about showing her neck scar. Will and Hannibal were wearing black, Will with a red tie and Hannibal with a red shirt. Both Italian suits, of course.

The three set the table and waited patiently for the guests. They were five minutes late, Hannibal noticed, looking at the ebony clock with its monotone sound. Hannibal stood and turned the music on - Johann Sebastian Bach, Goldberg Variations Aria. That's when the doorbell rang. Hannibal made his way to the front door to welcome the guests.

When the four reached the dinner table, Abigail and Will were sat one in front of the other, right next to the main chair - meant for Hannibal, of course. They all greeted each other and sat in their chairs. Hannibal, who went to the kitchen, was coming back with the main dish.

"Hunters-Style Braised Short Ribs," he said, serving them individually, "With mushrooms and vermouth, which makes these short ribs hunter-style; served with pappardelle and red wine."

When he was done he served them wine and soon they were talking about the food and why they picked Florence to live. The ebony clock counted the seconds slowly and while picking a mushroom up with her fork, she was reminded of that time Hannibal gave her mushroom tea. She wanted to skip time like that had felt for her. She wasn't even listening to what they were saying, she was revisiting everything Hannibal had taught her in less than one day. And she was afraid; afraid because she wanted to do it so badly.

A desire for butchering that she knew both of her fathers felt as well.

Chiara was sat beside Abigail and her parents were both on Will's side; Mrs. Faffa and Mr. Gianfranco, in that order. Just like they had planned. Hannibal stood up to take the plates to the kitchen and bring the dessert. That was Will's cue to excuse himself to the kitchen. Abigail was alone with the Italian family and continued the discussion about university. She smiled, was kind, gentle.

Until she picked up a bladed knife from under the table and opened it fast, sticking it precisely in Chiara's heart. She pressed the knife until there was no blade anymore to stick. There was blood coming from the wound and Abigail's dress was turning red, just like her hands. Her heartbeat was accelerated and she loved the adrenaline of… killing someone. She felt like she was home; it was not like it was her first time in any way. She twiched the knife and pulled it out, making red blood gush out of the wound, gushing onto the table, the food, the floor and, obviously, Chiara's parents. Behind them, both men stood with their weapons in hand. Abigail smiled at them and the couple still sitting at the table looked behind them and couldn't be more surprised.

_

They drove and drove for hours. Getting away from it all, even from their little girl, who was safe at home for now. Hannibal had it all in mind of what he wanted to do with Will. He just needed to find the perfect place. Will sat in silence, unaware of where they were going but trusting Hannibal in his gut.

That's when they found a long bridge. Hannibal parked the car and got out of the car, Will following him. They stood by the edge, looking at the long way down. There was a river down there, really far down from the bridge. The view was magnificent. The smell of the woods and the river and the deserted place was wonderful. There was no one around, no city or buildings around. It was just the bridge, the river down there, Will and Hannibal.

"We have the road to hell in front of us, Will."

Will absorbed the words and nodded; it seemed like paradise. Hannibal came closer and took Will's hand.

"Will?" he asked.

"Yes?" he asked right back.

"Will you marry me?" Hannibal looked right into the blue eyes.

Will's heart skipped a beat. He was speechless for a moment. Of course Hannibal had asked him that before, but in that moment it felt like they were going to marry right that second.

"Of course I will, but where are we gonna get married?" he asked.

"Right here, Will, this is our church. Give me your hand."

Will offered his hand and Hannibal took his special bladed knife and cut a long cut on Will's hand and then cut his own hand.

"Fuck you! Ow!"

"Put them together."

"That's very romantic, baby..."

Hannibal held Will's bleeding hand together with his own and looked above them.

"Before you and this river… and this mountain… Hannibal, do you take Will to be your lawful wedded husband, to have and hold and treat right until you die?" He nodded. "I do." "Will, do you take Hannibal to be your..." That's when a car passed by full of people screaming at them, interrupting the moment. The both of them glared at them with deadly eyes. "I'm not gonna murder anybody on our wedding day," Will said. "I do. For all eternity. Until you and I die, and die and die again..." "Til death do us part." Hannibal completed, putting two red rings on their fingers. "Yes!" Will exclamed, excited. "By the power vested in me, as God of my world… I pronounce us husband and husband."

In Baltimore, Maryland, Jack Crowford was finally released from the hospital. Even though the doctors said he should rest, his mind couldn't do it. He needed to find Hannibal, he needed to find Will. He knew they weren't dead and he had heard some of their conversation in the kitchen; not very clearly, but well enough to understand they were coming to terms. What the terms were, he did not know, yet.

It took him weeks, almost months, but he did find a trace of where Hannibal could be. He had this feeling in his gut; he knew Hannibal enough to know where he could have flown to away from everything he knew in the United States. He did his research and had found a doctor with similar characteristics, obviously under a fake name, living in Florence. That was his destination, then.

Like any professional and intelligent agent of the FBI, Jack lurked around for the doctor in the Italian city. It was hard to find him, even though he had found where he worked, until he discovered he was attending to his clients at home. He made up a fake name and made an appointment to meet the doctor.

What Jack didn't know was that Hannibal was aware of who that "patient" would be; and every plan he had made with Abigail and Will had to change drastically, because of him. Hannibal and Will, with Abigail, sat in the living room and made a plan together. A plan that couldn't fail. Jack was an old friend but they couldn't trust him anymore. Not after Hannibal had almost killed the man in his kitchen. It was a heartbreaking plan, but it had to be done, for the sake of the three of them.

On the day of the appointment, Hannibal and Will had already packed their bags and left Abigail to take care of the house. They left her money enough, and everything was taken care of. Hannibal and Will fled at dawn and Abigail was left alone in the house, not sure what she was supposed to feel, all alone. She knew it wasn't going to be forever, but for the while she would be alone she felt a little unsafe. After all, her parents were gone; for a while, now, for their marriage. After that they would be together again.

In the middle of the afternoon, Jack rang the bell. After a little while Abigail opened the door; Jack was speechless for a while.

"Abigail?" he asked, not really believing in what his eyes were seeing.

"They're gone, Jack; you won't find them. We were living a happy life until you left the hospital and came here to get them," she said casually, opening the door a little more, "Would you like to come in?" she asked.

They spent the next hour talking about the life they were living in Florence together. She was honest with him, more than what Hannibal liked her to be. Jack, as a friend, nodded and tried to understand. He wanted to catch Hannibal, of course, and now even Will, who was with him. But… in a way… he still felt friendship towards the other two, and sorry about Abigail.

After a long talk and when dusk was coming down the hills, they came to an agreement. Jack wouldn't look for them anymore. He would let them live their lives together, especially now that they had basically adopted Abigail, who was still a shock to him to be alive. She had convinced him to leave them be; as a family, and he, as their friend.


End file.
